Context help system

THE POST BELOW IS MORE THAN 5 YEARS OLD. RELATED SUPPORT INFORMATION MIGHT BE OUTDATED OR DEPRECATED

On 06/06/2008 at 17:02, xxxxxxxx wrote:

User Information:
Cinema 4D Version:   R9-R10.5 
Platform:   Windows  ; Mac  ;  Mac OSX  ; 
Language(s) :     C++  ;

---------
Anybody think that it would be possible to make a help system sort of like Windows where you enable the "?" and select the dialog element to get information? I realize that tooltips are out of the question so I'd probably open a dialog or HTML in a browswer (or something).

For instance, is it possible to retrieve the gadget ID under which the cursor was clicked (while in this mode that I'd be using)? It seems like one would need to use GetItemDim() for every gadget and check to see if the cursor position is within it.

THE POST BELOW IS MORE THAN 5 YEARS OLD. RELATED SUPPORT INFORMATION MIGHT BE OUTDATED OR DEPRECATED

On 07/06/2008 at 00:50, xxxxxxxx wrote:

Okay. Well, there isn't much to do about specific context (at the gadget level) but it can work at the tab group level nicely. So, here is a complete non-modal dialog class to show HTML help. Create an instance of this class, Open() as needed, and then call SetUrl(string) to show the appropriate HTML help:

> ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
> // HelpDialog.cpp
> ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
> // interPoser Pro Help Dialog Class
> ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
> // V1.8.5 2008.06.07 Robert Templeton
> ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
> #ifndef _HELPDIALOG_H_
> #define _HELPDIALOG_H_
>
> #include "customgui_htmlviewer.h"
>
> // CLASS: interPoserPro Help Dialog Info
> class HelpDialog : public GeDialog
> {
>      private:
>           HtmlViewerCustomGui*     hvcg;
>      public:
>           //*---------------------------------------------------------------------------*
>           HelpDialog()
>           //*---------------------------------------------------------------------------*
>           {
>                hvcg =     NULL;
>           }
>           // -- GeDialog Virtuals
>           //*---------------------------------------------------------------------------*
>           Bool CreateLayout()
>           //*---------------------------------------------------------------------------*
>           {
>                // Call parent instance
>                if (!GeDialog::CreateLayout())     return FALSE;
>
>                // Dialog Title
>                SetTitle(GeLoadString(IPPS_PLUGIN_NAME)+" "+GeLoadString(IPPS_PLUGIN_EDITION)+" Help");
>
>                BaseContainer     tbc;
>                hvcg =                         (HtmlViewerCustomGui* )AddCustomGui(5000L,CUSTOMGUI_HTMLVIEWER,String(),BFH_SCALEFIT|BFV_SCALEFIT,0L,0L,tbc);
>                if (!hvcg)                    return ErrorException::Throw(EE_DIALOG, GeLoadString(IPPERR_MEMORY_TEXT), "HelpDialog.CreateLayout.hvcg");
>
>                return TRUE;
>           }
>           // -- General
>           //*---------------------------------------------------------------------------*
>           void SetUrl(const String& url)
>           //*---------------------------------------------------------------------------*
>           {
>                if (!hvcg)     return;
>                hvcg->SetUrl(url, URL_ENCODING_UTF16);
>                hvcg->DoAction(WEBPAGE_REFRESH);
>           }
> };
>
> #endif     // _HELPDIALOG_H_

Here is the general template for when a 'help' button is pushed:

>      if          (tab == GROUP_RTEXPLORER)                    ShowHelpDialog("http://www.kuroyumes-developmentzone.com/");
> ...
> //*---------------------------------------------------------------------------*
> void IPPDialog::ShowHelpDialog(const String& url)
> //*---------------------------------------------------------------------------*
> {
>      if (!helpDialog->IsOpen())     helpDialog->Open(TRUE,0L,-1L,-1L,320L,320L);
>      helpDialog->SetUrl(url);
> }
>

Note that this feature is only available in R10 and later.